1. Technical Field
The present invention is directed to a web browser. More specifically, the present invention is directed to an apparatus and method of selecting a home page for a web browser based on a scheduler or network connection.
2. Description of Related Art
As is well known by now, the World Wide Web (WWW) or Internet is a system of servers that support documents formatted in Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML). HTML supports links to documents as well as to graphics, audio and video files. Links are references to documents from within other documents. Links allow a user to easily jump from one document or Web page to another with just a click of a mouse.
To access the Internet one needs to have a Web browser installed. A Web browser is a software application that is used to locate Web sites and display Web pages. When a Web browser is activated for the first time, it usually goes and accesses a default Web page, if one is specified. This default Web page is often referred to as a home page. Sometimes, however, this home page may not be readily accessible.
For instance, as a security measure against Internet intruders, most companies erect firewalls. A firewall allows computer systems that make part of a company's Intranet to freely communicate with each other. These computer systems are euphemistically referred to as being behind the company's firewall. A computer system that is not behind a company's firewall may not freely communicate with computer systems behind the firewall.
Thus, if a computer system (such as a laptop) is behind the company's firewall and the home page is hosted by a computer system that is also behind the firewall, when the Web browser is activated for the first time, the Web browser will be able to access the home page. But, if the computer system accessing the home page is not behind the firewall, the Web browser will not be able to access the home page and an error such as “page cannot be displayed” will be generated.
The “page cannot be displayed” error is not ordinarily generated right after the Web browser starts to run. It usually occurs after a certain amount of time has elapsed (i.e., after the request sent by the Web browser for the home page has timed out). Most users usually wait to see whether a page will be displayed. This is time squandered that could be better used for the task at hand.
Hence, what is needed is a method and apparatus that allow a Web browser to access an alternate home page if the default home page is not presently accessible.